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Leafs say turnaround starts vs. Canadiens

The Maple Leafs, in the bunker mentality that typically envelopes teams when jobs are threatened, are rallying behind coach Paul Maurice. As they prepare to face the Montreal Canadiens tonight – a game that slumping winger Jason Blake says &quot;will define us as a hockey team&quot; – the players said they are the ones who should be held accountable for the club's recent performance, not the coach.

The Maple Leafs, in the bunker mentality that typically envelopes teams when jobs are threatened, are rallying behind coach Paul Maurice.

As they prepare to face the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday night – a game that slumping winger Jason Blake says "will define us as a hockey team" – the players say they are the ones who should be held accountable for the club's recent performance, not the coach.

"This thing is nobody else's fault but all of us here in this (dressing) room. We all know that. Nobody else is wearing the skates," said winger Alex Steen. "Nobody else is on the ice doing this job and right now we're not doing it. We need to turn this around. If we can't get excited about this game (Tuesday), we're going to have a tough time for the rest of the season."

Added forward Matt Stajan: "All this talk about (Maurice's) job being in jeopardy, (but) I feel like he's done a good job with us. He has us ready to go. I think we play a good system. It's up to the players to turn this around. He's taken the heat for it but it's up to us to play better and get some wins."

Going into the contest against the Habs – a team former Canadiens great Guy Lafleur recently called a bunch of fourth liners – the Leafs have lost three in row and six of their last seven. With 16 losses, they are tied for most in the league, a dubious achievement indeed.

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"We take this very personally; losing is never fun, especially the way we have been losing. The effort isn't there," continued Steen. "It's such a fine line between winning and losing and right now we're on the wrong side of that line."

"We really need a win tonight. If we want to make the playoffs, we have to turn this around and we need to start today."

"It feels like the whole city is coming down on us right now. Understandably so. We haven't been playing well," added Stajan. "There's no better team to beat and turn things around than Montreal. We'll be ready tonight. There's 60 games left but we have to start winning now, no doubt about it. It's make or break for the playoffs because we're letting too many slip away."

Despite taking the heat for Toronto's recent performance, along with general manager John Ferguson, Maurice said nothing has changed for him. He still loves coaching the Leafs.

"This is not what you do for a living, it's a career. I don't know if 'enjoy it' is a good way to describe it because you hate losing so much and it does affect you. It's part of the job and it's an awesome job. It's as good as it gets," said Maruice.

"To get up every morning and you've got three things you're excited about and three fires you think you have to put out and all the challenges that come with it, and it changes just about daily. It's a job where there's a lot of juice, a lot of energy. It eats you up some nights but it sure gets you out of bed in the morning. That's a great way to go through life."

As for the line-up, Toronto winger Jiri Tlusty won't play with a leg injury while Alexei Ponikarovsky will be a game time decision also with on-going leg cramps, though Maurice said he was leaning towards the big winger not playing. Winger Chad Kilger will be back in after missing four games with a sprained ankle.

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